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I Have A Difficult Question About Fragrance Stability

post #1 of 15
9/13/10 at 1:42am
Thread Starter 
Hello again fellow Basenoters,

I'm still a bit new to fragrances so I often ask a few questions on here about them and always receive great responses from the community so I thank you all!
I'm always interested in the science of fragrances so I often wonder many different things related to them and their structure. One such thing is how stable fragrances actually are. Lets say I apply a fragrance in a room I freshly painted, will it pick up the odor from the paint and deteriorate or will it have no affect? I figure that any harsh odor present at the time you spray a fragrance would have some kind of affect on a fragrance, after all, a fragrance does pick up the air around it and puts it in the bottle after you spray it. What do you basenoters think? Thanks again
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post #2 of 15
9/13/10 at 1:52am
hmmm nice question. i would also love to know the answer some one on the forum definitely knows the answer
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post #3 of 15
9/13/10 at 10:41am
Sorry - but how do you technically go about this? When you spray, the fragrance evaporates- how can you get it back into the bottle after having sprayed it int othe air???
Of course the fragrance will mingle with the smell of fresh paint - you will have a mix of perfume plus paint - but you will not be able to demonstrate how a scent molecule "picks up" and integrates another mlecule into its structure.
Normally, atomizers are air-tight - you don't "put the fragrance back into the bottle" after having sprayed it - how could that work? Only, of course, under the condition that you empty the contents of a vessel into another vessel - expose it to paint - and shift the contents of the vessel back into yet another bottle. Is that what you wanted to ask? I'm not quite sure I got it right...
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post #4 of 15
9/13/10 at 10:48am
Un Profumu affettuoso, I think what he is saying is that when you spray, the volume of fragrance in the bottle that is atomized is replaced by air from outside of the bottle. It is not a vacuum in there!

So, every time you spray, some of the air in the room (a tiny amount, but still, some) is transferred into the bottle. He is wondering if that air were to be contaminated if it would affect the fragrance at all.

To the OP, I wish I had an answer. This question popped into my head about a week ago but I forgot to ask, so I thank you for posing the question!
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post #5 of 15
9/13/10 at 11:05am
I would love an answer as well. My guess is, unless the odor is really strong and you're sitting in steams of it, the little tiny bit of air that goes inside won't make a noticeable difference.
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post #6 of 15
9/13/10 at 12:48pm
Deffinitely it affects. recently i read a article about perfumery. On the article i read "store blend in an airtight dark-colored glass container". So when air affects on perfumes, diffinitely air pollution of chemical materials destroy your perfume. But it's a mistake, if you think odor of chemical colors blends with your perfume, and you will have new one!!
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post #7 of 15
9/14/10 at 3:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Un profumo affettuoso View Post

Sorry - but how do you technically go about this? When you spray, the fragrance evaporates- how can you get it back into the bottle after having sprayed it int othe air???
Of course the fragrance will mingle with the smell of fresh paint - you will have a mix of perfume plus paint - but you will not be able to demonstrate how a scent molecule "picks up" and integrates another mlecule into its structure.
Normally, atomizers are air-tight - you don't "put the fragrance back into the bottle" after having sprayed it - how could that work? Only, of course, under the condition that you empty the contents of a vessel into another vessel - expose it to paint - and shift the contents of the vessel back into yet another bottle. Is that what you wanted to ask? I'm not quite sure I got it right...

Actually, I meant the air that the spritzer pulls in after the fragrance sprays out, not the actual fragrance liquid itself. If there are other strong odors present at the time you spray your fragrance, does it pick up that contaminated air and blend it with the fragrance or change it in any way or does it have no affect? Sorry for the confusion.
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post #8 of 15
9/14/10 at 3:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SculptureOfSoul View Post

Un Profumu affettuoso, I think what he is saying is that when you spray, the volume of fragrance in the bottle that is atomized is replaced by air from outside of the bottle. It is not a vacuum in there!

So, every time you spray, some of the air in the room (a tiny amount, but still, some) is transferred into the bottle. He is wondering if that air were to be contaminated if it would affect the fragrance at all.

To the OP, I wish I had an answer. This question popped into my head about a week ago but I forgot to ask, so I thank you for posing the question!

Thank you for clarifying that. I was trying to figure out how to word it correctly but I guess I failed.
So onward to the question. I'm not too sure if it does affect it or not considering that everyday there are odors present in the air when we spray our fragrances. If it did, wouldn't all our fragrances be ruined by now? I believe the main places people spray there fragrances are restrooms and often times, there is the smell of human secretions or other bodily odors, even if faint, but regardless when we apply our fragrance in this environment, have you ever noticed a difference in the scent over time? Truly, I haven't but then that begs the question of odors that are much more dominant/stronger such as paint, ammonia, bleach, household cleaner, etc. Can they alter the scent of your fragrance? Hmmmm.....
Thank you for responding to my post, I'm glad that I wasn't the only person with this question in mind
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post #9 of 15
9/14/10 at 3:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekove View Post

I would love an answer as well. My guess is, unless the odor is really strong and you're sitting in steams of it, the little tiny bit of air that goes inside won't make a noticeable difference.

I agree with you! Since there are constantly odors present in the air, wouldn't all of our fragrances have altered by now? Have you ever noticed a change in scent when you spray it around a strong odor? I haven't but maybe I just can't tell?
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post #10 of 15
9/14/10 at 4:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcastano View Post

I believe the main places people spray there fragrances are restrooms and often times, there is the smell of human secretions or other bodily odors, even if faint...

This sounds like a good argument for not storing/applying fragrances in the bathroom! I'm not so sure I'd want to add that particular animalic note to my 'fumes, even in small quantities!
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post #11 of 15
9/14/10 at 4:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeepSilence View Post

Deffinitely it affects. recently i read a article about perfumery. On the article i read "store blend in an airtight dark-colored glass container". So when air affects on perfumes, diffinitely air pollution of chemical materials destroy your perfume. But it's a mistake, if you think odor of chemical colors blends with your perfume, and you will have new one!!

Oh wow, really?! Hmmm, I figure that as long as it is not present in high quantities, the fragrance will be fine. It's just that when we spray out fragrances, there is constantly an odor present in the air whether pleasant, neutral, or not. Don't you think by now, all our fragrances would be ruined? Hmmm, I really wonder.....
Thanks for your input
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post #12 of 15
9/14/10 at 4:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 30 Roses View Post

This sounds like a good argument for not storing/applying fragrances in the bathroom! I'm not so sure I'd want to add that particular animalic note to my 'fumes, even in small quantities!

lol I agree! I usually just apply them in my closet where I store them but I used to apply them in my restroom !
Since I started collecting, I thought of this question immediately so just to be on the safe side, I moved my place of application
Thank you for your input!
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post #13 of 15
9/14/10 at 6:47am
Aww, people are getting paranoid from this topic. As I said earlier, the odors present in a room are in very low concentration and in vapor form, they're not going to affect the juice from the little amount that enters when you spray. And that is if this theory was true in the first.

I keep a diffuser in my bathroom, it should be the same thing as a perfume, shouldn't it? well, it has been there for 6 months, and still going strong and lovely. Even the few times I got it and used it in another room, still as good.
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post #14 of 15
9/14/10 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekove View Post

Aww, people are getting paranoid from this topic. As I said earlier, the odors present in a room are in very low concentration and in vapor form, they're not going to affect the juice from the little amount that enters when you spray. And that is if this theory was true in the first.

I keep a diffuser in my bathroom, it should be the same thing as a perfume, shouldn't it? well, it has been there for 6 months, and still going strong and lovely. Even the few times I got it and used it in another room, still as good.

I'm not sure what a diffuser is but if it works anything like the pump of a fragrance than you sir are 100% correct! I think even if it were in high quantities, it still would have no affect. Think of it this way, there are always odors present everywhere, especially when we apply our fragrances. Also, you know those fragrances that even when you just have them lying around in their box or anywhere else, you can still smell them because they're so strong, i.e Montale, well, we apply fragrances where sometimes one can smell another fragrance very dominanly in the air, and it hasn't seemed to change anything for anyone quite yet, or at least I've never heard of that. Maybe the way fragrances were created, they were meant to have a stable structure regardless of their environment. It's not like a chemical reaction is taking place. Thank you for all your input!
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post #15 of 15
9/14/10 at 2:59pm
Oh I meant a reed diffuser, where the juice has direct contact with air. Though I suppose the same applies for a regular diffuser.

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